Discovering Secrets
by Catygirl
Summary: Sam is in Nevada and Jack is in Washington but when Sam is in an accident it starts a spiral of events that lead to secrets that have been kept for years being revealed. A multi-chapter story with our favourite SG1 couple.
1. Chapter 1

**Discovering Secrets!**

 _Here is chapter one of my new multi-chapter story. It is set after season 8 but before season 9, in that wonderful period where we have no idea what was happening. However Jack is in Washington and Sam in based in Nevada. The story jumps timelines each chapter which should be very easy to follow. It would be great to know what you think. The story is done so will be posted regularly._

 _As always, I don't own Stargate, just having a bit of fun with the characters._

Jack O'Neill was in the middle of doing something that he had sworn he would never do; he had promised himself and, more importantly, he had promised her.

He had used his stars to get his own way!

As he had advanced through the ranks of the Airforce he had watched some unscrupulous Generals requisition transportation for a variety of things simply by dropping their high rank into a conversation. Sometimes it had merely been for a vehicle, like a car, to transport the General from point A to B, but other times it had been for a more expensive mode of transport. However only rarely had a younger Jack seen an officer request a jet – and right the hell now! As he was doing.

Although stern on the outside, on the inside he was at war with himself. One side, the side that had constantly 'stuck it to the man' or made derisory comments about abuse of power was demanding that this stopped. However that side was being forced into submission by the side that needed to get to Sam. He had to force himself to breath while glaring at the young officer and then he demanded a pilot as well as a plane as he realised that there was no way that he could successfully fly himself to Nevada in the state he was in. Once he had squashed the lowly sergeant and had found a bright eyed Captain, Jack was in his flight gear and on the tarmac ready to board the jet.

"General, there's a call from Cheyenne Mountain for you, the General there said it would be worth your while to speak to him."

Jack glared at the Sergeant who had dared to come between him and his ride to Nevada but nevertheless did as he was asked and moved back inside the hanger at Andrews Airforce Base to take the call. The sergeant pointed to the phone in the small office then left the room to give the General some privacy.

"This had better be good Hank." Jack barked down the phone knowing exactly who was on the line.

"Jack I just heard, get your ass back to the Pentagon and we can beam you to Nevada."

Jack moved the phone from his ear and stared at it, this he did not expect, "You can do that?" He asked incredulously, "I figured I was breaking enough rules requisitioning a plane" Jack mumbled, a little rankled that he had not thought of this and had wasted an hour getting to Andrews and fighting for a jet.

"No Jack, _I_ can't authorise that" Landry spoke as if to a child. "But the President can and he just called to tell me to get you to Nevada ASAP but only from the Homeworld offices in the Pentagon. I've been trying to catch you for 15minutes."

Jack considered the option looking at the Captain and his jet on the tarmac. "Right I'll get there, are you sure this is quicker than the jet?" he asked considering the traffic.

"It will be with the Presidential police escort he also authorised. The limo should be pulling up to your hanger about now."

Jack turned in the small office and looked through the dirty windows to see the motorbikes and limo pulled up. He was gobsmacked. He barely heard Landry ask if he could see it but when he confirmed the arrival Landry spoke again.

"Go to her Jack, from what I heard she needs you, God speed."

Landry hung up and Jack put the phone down and ran through the hanger filled with very curious personnel wondering who was arriving. Jack got in the limo and very quickly arrived in his office and then suddenly in Nevada.

Another car, one less prestigious than the President's limo, was waiting for him at Area 51 to take him the short ride to the hospital.

Now that he was here, standing in the heat and staring at the front door, he didn't want to go in, so completely afraid of what he might find. He forced his weary legs to push him up the small stairs until he was inside the building. It smelt like every other hospital Jack had been in, there were the same beeping noises, the same types of people in their blue or green scrubs moving around quickly but with efficiency and not panic. He nearly turned and ran in the opposite direction but straightened his back and moved over to the desk reciting the information he had been given less than two hours ago.

"Samantha Carter, I'm her next of kin, I was called about Samantha Carter, a motorbike accident?"

"She's just gone up to surgery," a passing nurse supplied the information behind the desk clerk, taking the lead over what appeared, to Jack, to be an inexperienced new recruit. "What's your name?" the nurse asked punching some keys on the computer to get the file up.

"Jack O'Neill, I'm one of her next of kin."

The nurse nodded, clearly having that information in front of her. "She's upstairs, go through that door, turn left, up the stairs, 2nd floor."

The nurse had barely finished speaking when Jack shot away from the desk and through the heavy plastic doors. He took the stairs two at a time to begin with before quickly realising that his knees could not cope with that pace. He checked the sign on the wall of the 2nd floor and followed the instructions to the main desk of surgery. There he was greeted by someone who seemed more competent than the desk clerk in the E.R. Jack was panting a little by the time he reached her but managed to get out the words he needed, "Samantha Carter. I'm Jack O'Neill"

"Ah Mr O'Neill, you made very good time, I'm the one who called your earlier. The other next of kin Mark Carter should be arriving soon he is bringing Ms Carter's daughter with him."

Jack simply stared at the woman as if she had developed glowing eyes and was infected with a snake. "Excuse me!"

"Her daughter Sir, her brother was quite insistent that we let Ms Carter know they were both on their way. He just called from the airport to say they had arrived and to ask about her."

Jack wiped his hand down his face and chose, at least for that minute, to ignore the entire conversation and focus on his main objective for travelling across the country. "How is Sam?"

"She is in surgery, the infirmary from the Airforce base in Colorado have been in touch and sent a team who have worked with Ms Carter before."

"It's Colonel" Jack corrected although unsure why on earth it mattered at that particular point, except Jack felt it showed she was important not only to him but to the country.

"Yes Sir, when we first used her ID to contact the Airforce they told us her file was classified and would only release your contact details, her brothers and inform her command. If you could take a seat I will inform the doctors that you are here, the team from Colorado were keen to know of your arrival."

Jack moved slowly to the small area of chairs indicated by the clerk. The chairs were plastic, bright orange and formed a square round the corner of the reception area. It was mercifully empty and Jack looked around taking in all the small details just as his training taught him. He took in the orange chairs that squeaked as they moved on the white lino when he moved slightly, the blue curtains which clashed hideously with the orange and covered the windows into the ICU rooms and the surgical areas, shielding those who were unfortunate enough to be here. Jack muddled that over in his mind as he realised that maybe those in the beds were actually fortunate as they were alive. It also meant that Sam was still alive and that was something to cling to.

He leaned back in his chair, his head colliding with the sill of the window causing him to reach up and rub his head. He thought he just closed his eyes for a minute but he was awoken by another visitor. The man and Jack could only guess a 9 or 10 year old girl arrived at the same reception desk he had done and to Jack's slight surprise he asked the same question Jack had asked.

"We're here to see Samantha Carter, how is she?"

Jack rose and walked across the room, his shoes squeaking as he got closer to the desk.

The man turned towards him, "General O'Neill!" Mark exclaimed. "I had no idea that Sam had you on her forms."

"Hello Mark, it's been a recent development." Jack shrugged unwilling to go into his relationship at this point.

Mark looked very uncomfortable, "Ah…yes…well this is Annie…..eh"

"Sam's daughter?" Jack finished.

 _So hopefully you are willing to stick around with this new story. Inspiration came from the end of the episode "Seth" in Season 3 and all will be revealed as we go through the story._


	2. What!

Discovering Secrets – Chapter 2.

Thank you so much for all the reviews, really pleased you are enjoying this story. This is a shorter chapter but sets up the scenes from the past. Hope you all like it.

 **Previously in Discovering Secrets**

 _Jack rose and walked across the room, his shoes squeaking as he got closer to the desk._

 _The man turned towards him, "General O'Neill!" Mark exclaimed. "I had no idea that Sam had you on her forms."_

" _Hello Mark, it's been a recent development." Jack shrugged unwilling to go into his relationship at this point._

 _Mark looked very uncomfortable, "Ah…yes…well this is Annie…..eh"_

" _Sam's daughter?" Jack finished._

10 years previously

Lieutenant Sam Carter could honestly say she had never felt this bad in all her life. She had flown over the gulf, pulled 4 G's in a jet, drunk more than enough alcohol in one night to make her feel like she was flying without wings but this had to beat them all. All the hangovers she'd had throughout her college years never ever felt like this bug.

She was currently, and had been for the last hour, positioned on the floor of her base quarters toilet block throwing up every 30 seconds. It felt awful, she was down to the bile and that just plain stung when it came up. She really needed to get off the floor and to the base doctor before she passed this on to anyone else, she wouldn't even wish it on her worst enemy.

With great effort, since she had gone a whole five minutes without retching, Sam gingerly got to her feet and opened the cubicle door. She had hoped to move without observers but on looking around the sink area she found her closest friend on base, Lieutenant Annie McKenzie watching her with concern.

"You've been in there a long time Sam, you ok?"

"No, feel as sick as a dog." Sam replied while using the wall to move slowly towards the door across the other side of the room.

"I told the Major you were sick." Annie said moving to help her friend. "He was his usual cheerful self about that news. C'mon I said I would take you to see the base CMO."

Very uncharacteristically Sam allowed herself to be helped to the infirmary, only glad that it was a Sunday and most people were on weekend liberty. Annie pushed her through the door and deposited her on a bed before she could fall down. The doctor and a nurse watched as she came through the door and came to see what had caused one of the notoriously 'tough' female members of the command to seek out their assistance.

"Lieutenant…" The doctor tried to surreptitiously look for her badge on her jacket.

"Carter Sir" Sam helped the conversation along from her prone position on the bed knowing that she didn't have her name badge on her jacket.

"What seems to be the trouble?" The doctor asked, he was an older man and unlike some doctors Sam had come across did seem genuine in his enquiry.

"Stomach flu I think Sir, been sick all morning, still nauseous but nothing coming up for the last ten minutes or so." Sam struggled to keep her eyes open or her words from slurring slightly, something which did not go unnoticed by the doctor.

"Very well, let's check you out." The doctor turned to Annie who was standing nervously at the end of the bed. "Thank you Lieutenant, your friend is in good hands now." Annie moved to squeeze Sam's hand trying to pass on her support and then turned and left.

"Nurse, I believe we will start with a saline IV, take a blood sample and then we will monitor her to see whether this nausea continues." The doctor signed her initial chart and then left.

"Yes Doctor" the nurse said to his retreating back, and then bustled around the room and around Sam. She moved stands and IV bags, she took her pulse and checked her eyes she then set up all the machines she might need before finally taking a vile of blood from Sam's arm. But by this point Sam was not capable of noticing very much and was almost asleep.

Unfortunately she was not allowed to sleep just yet. Sam was generally a very healthy person so she had never visited the infirmary on the base since her physical 6 months previously on her arrival at her new post. All this meant that the nurse had a whole heap of questions to run through. By the end of it Sam felt that the nurse now knew her better than she knew herself. Once the nurse had all her answers Sam was completely exhausted and was hoping she could fall asleep, finally. The nurse set up the line for the IV and set it to work. It would last for several hours to replace some of the liquid Sam had lost through the extreme vomiting of the last few hours. At least it bypassed her stomach so Sam tried to relax knowing that she didn't have to try and keep anything down. The nurse left, completing forms as she walked and reminding her that the infirmary reports would go directly to her CO.

Sam sighed, and there was the reason that she hadn't wanted to come to the infirmary. Sam'd had her fair share of good and bad CO's but the one she had now really did not like her. Her CO looked good on paper, really good, he was decorated, a war hero, someone that many young personnel looked up to. However on being stationed on the base Sam found he made his feelings about women serving in the military perfectly clear. Women, according to him, had no place in the military and when he had heard of Sam's achievements in Iraq he had been almost apoplectic. Sam was the epitome of what not to be, a woman, an officer and one that wanted the same chances and respect that men got. Of course it didn't help that Sam was smarter than him and every other person on the base.

Sam's concerns over the report going to her CO fled to the back of her mind when the feeling of nausea returned so much that she was reaching for the bowl left by the nurse, by the time the feeling ended Sam collapsed on the bed.

She lay back trying to keep her mind off her stomach by reviewing the periodic table; she could go through it without thinking so she often did it to distract herself. She must have dropped off to sleep because the next thing that she was aware of was the doctor and the nurse waking her up. She looked up at them groggily and tried to sit up a little on the bed. However her stomach was not up for moving and she needed to reach for the bowl again. Once she had stopped dry heaving and the nurse re-checked her IV he began speaking.

"Lieutenant Carter we have good news and bad news." The doctor joked. "Which do you want first?"

Sam looked almost confused at his attitude "eh…bad news" she whispered, always one to face the bad things head on.

"Ok, well the bad news is that we cannot immediately cure your flu because you don't have the flu."

"Um well ok….what's the good news?" Sam asked even more confused.

"You're pregnant" he answered in an upbeat tone.

"What!" screamed Sam.

AN: More to come soon, thanks for reading.


	3. Who?

Discovering Secrets – Chapter 3

 _So the story moves forward in time again. Thanks for all the reviews and favourites, makes me smile. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, perhaps a little small but I am building up the story. Enjoy._

 __SG1__

 _Back in a Nevada hospital_

Jack's eyes moved from Mark to the girl.

"Hello Annie, I'm…"

"You're Jack. Mom told me all about you. Where is she? Can I see her now?"

Jack looked down at the blonde haired girl and was in complete shock. He had banished the earlier conversation with the desk clerk from his mind assuming she had got the wrong information. However it was becoming abundantly clear that Sam had a daughter and she was standing right in front of him. Before he had a chance to speak the desk clerk cleared her throat to get the relatives attention.

"Excuse me, Ms Carter.."

"Colonel" all three voices spoke back to the clerk in unison only looking at each other when they realised that they had all corrected the woman.

The woman was taken aback a little but continued "Yes, I'll make a note of that. Colonel Carter is in surgery, a team has been flown in from Colorado by the Airforce to assist with the procedure and will be out when they have news."

"The Airforce?" Mark queried a little surprised that a civilian hospital would need Airforce doctors or that they would feel the need to come from Colorado to be involved in a motorcycle accident.

Jack jumped in to smooth any concerns Mark would have. He knew why the team was here, they were his first call when he heard the news but he could understand why Sam's brother might find it suspicious. "They've been her medical team for eight years. I guarantee you that they are the best people to help her." He decided not to mention that everything that Sam's body had gone through meant that it may be harder for conventional doctors to treat her.

"Oh ok….." Mark turned to the desk clerk, "Thanks…we'll just" Mark indicated the seating area with his hand.

Annie had spent the last few minutes looking Jack up and down and chose to speak now. "You're an important General aren't you?"

Jack, embarrassed by how Sam had clearly introduced him to this young girl, blushed and replied "Yeah, I suppose"

"Mom said you work in Washington now."

Both Mark and Jack looked at her, neither realising that Annie would know so much about Jack.

"Yeah I do, I worked with Car.. your mom for a long time though." Jack struggled through the word 'mom' although this small version of Sam could not be anything other than her daughter.

Annie nodded and walked absentmindedly towards the seating area where the desk clerk had indicated. She picked up a celebrity magazine and sat on the uncomfortable orange chairs. Jack watched as she went his mind immediately pointing out how calm she seemed. He'd had very little to do with kids since Charlie died and Cassie became a teenager but he had expected a more emotional and tearful child upon hearing her mother had been in an accident.

Mark had followed Annie and Jack figured he might as well tag along. Jack sat a few seats from Annie assuming that she wouldn't want a complete stranger to be crowding her, especially since he knew that was one of Sam's pet hates. He had so many questions going round his head and while he really wanted to focus on Sam and her condition, the arrival of doctors he trusted meant that his focus could now roam somewhere else. He was very curious about the little girl but he had no idea how to start the conversation.

Mark Carter was equally unable to speak. He knew when Sam finished with Pete that there was obviously someone else in the picture but he had no idea that it was the General. Over the years Sam had spoken a lot about her team in Colorado and some of their antics but never, to him, had she mentioned anything romantic about any of them, especially her CO. He had thought long and hard about setting Sam up with Pete but he had believed that they were a good match for each other. Pete was a good guy and they were both committed to their jobs and had, what he assumed, were similar responsibilities. Above all, Pete was a good choice because he knew about the situation with Annie, had done for many years. In Mark's eyes it had been a 'win win' situation. However he was also the first to admit that Sam's heart was not in the relationship, not as much as Pete's was. Had Sam not announced that the wedding was off he was planning to put a stop to it, or at least have an in-depth conversation with his little sister where he would encourage her to be as honest as possible. It had been the look in her eyes on that last visit she made where she was getting Annie's dress fitted that had shown Mark that the wedding was not a good idea. What Mark had to consider now was although his friend was not the one that should be with Sam, was Jack O'Neill really a good fit for her. His father had been a fan of the man, often commenting about how he looked out for Sam and the rest of the team. But was that enough, he was clearly older than her, and he was very definitely military. Could Sam be a military wife? How would it work when she was also in the military? Mark stopped that train of thought, he had no idea if Sam was serious about this guy so he needed to wait until he spoke to her, for all he knew he might not be a long term thing, especially if he didn't know about Annie.

"I was supposed to be meeting you next weekend." Annie spoke in to the silence lifting her head from the magazine.

'Oh well scratch that thought, Sam was serious about the General.' Mark thought and then tuned in to the conversation happening beside him.

"You were?" Jack answered the little girl, quite surprised at this announcement, although now he thought about it he did have an invite to Nevada and Sam had said there was something they needed to talk about. 'Huh, she does have a way of playing down major announcements', Jack thought, but then remembering the conversation he hadn't really fully taken in the message delivered on Skype as Sam was wearing a gorgeous blue tank top that had just about melted his brain.

"Yeah, she said you were coming to see her for the weekend and she was going to Skype me so you could meet me, I think she was nervous about your reaction."

"Oh." Jack had nothing else to say, Sam had clearly told her daughter a lot about him but it was not reciprocated. He couldn't believe he had known Sam for over 8 years and this had never come up. He did know that the little girl beside him didn't deserve any of his worry or anger or 'his reaction' about the situation, she wasn't at fault. He sighed a little and smiled a wry smile down at her, "Well you are a bit of a surprise." Jack managed to get out.

"She always has been." Mark added and ruffled the girl's hair.

 _ **AN: Thanks for reading, will be posting more very soon.**_


	4. Pregnant

Discovering Secrets 4: Pregnant

 _Thanks so much for the support and reviews. I hope this will answer some of your questions. Set 9 years previously, Sam has just recently found out she is pregnant and goes to see the two people she cares about most to get some help._

Sam Carter looked at the house in front of her. It was a two story, wood panelled house and it had been her sanctuary for the six years that her brother had lived in it. She came here during her final years of training and before and after she deployed to Iraq. Now, 3 months pregnant, having been assigned desk duty and given time off for ill health she was here again.

Sam rang the bell, hoping to find not her brother but his wife, her best friend for nearly the last twenty years. They had met early on at school and became fast friends. Although it had been very odd when Chloe and Mark had begun dating Sam now believed that she had the best of both worlds, she was now able to see both at the same time and it had kept her close to her brother and her friend. It helped that they all got on so well when together. But she really didn't know how her brother would react to her news, so she was very relieved when Chloe opened the door carrying her three year old boy on her hip.

"Sam! You didn't tell us you were coming, come in." She ushered Sam through the door and then pulled her into a hug as she stood in the hallway. Once the little boy had squirmed enough between them, Chloe pulled back, put the boy down and studied her sister in law. "Jeez you look like hell, what's going on?"

Sam's dam burst, finally in the presence of her friend, and tears began rolling down her cheeks.

Sam was quickly gathered in Chloe's arms "Hey, it's ok." She tried to console her, now weeping, friend. She wiped Sam's tears, as she would do with her son's and tried to get her to smile. "C'mon lets get the kettle on and you can fill me in okay?" She gently pulled Sam through to the back of the house and the kitchen.

Sam sat in the kitchen on a high stool beside the breakfast bar and watched as Chloe pottered around the room. Chloe had decided to make some of the calming tea that she knew Sam liked but as soon as the teabag hit the boiling water Sam bolted from the room to the downstairs toilet and began retching. In all the emotions of seeing her friend, Sam had completely forgotten that she now couldn't stand the smell of the tea she once adored.

Chloe poured the tea away and sprayed a little Dettol to try and take away the smell from the room and then followed her friend to the small toilet. The noises she could hear from behind that closed door confirmed her suspicions, Sam was pregnant. She didn't know how she knew but she just did, Mark was going to flip.

Chloe left her to it for a minute, remembering from her pregnancy that all she wanted was ice-cold water when she had morning sickness. Sam appeared at the kitchen door just as Chloe turned from the fridge to make her way back to her.

"How far along are you?" Chloe asked quietly with concern although Sam still winced at the question.

"Could never keep anything from you Chlo, could I?" She smiled weakly and gratefully accepted the water in Chloe's hand.

"Nope, not since you were 7 and you dismantled that toaster and your father went nuts. So out with it, I want the whole story."

Sam moved to sit on the small sofa and sipped some of the water to calm her stomach. She looked at her friend and tried to decide what to say, so she just came out with it. "Jonas is a crackpot, we are no longer engaged and I'm pregnant." She smiled a watery smile as the tears started rolling down her cheeks again showing her friend that despite the flippancy of the comment she was hurting.

"Ok, that's a lot of information in one sentence and I'm pretty sure that is not the full story. So let's take this one thing at a time. On the Jonas front, I hate to say I told you so but he is a total crackpot, although I am a little concerned as to how you came to this conclusion when the last time I saw you, you were completely infatuated.

Sam squirmed a little, this was a topic of conversation she really didn't want to go into and fortunately Chloe picked up on that so she continued talking. "I'm glad you are not engaged to him anymore." She added quietly. There was a pause when Chloe thought Sam might expand on her explanation, when she didn't Chloe spoke again. "Is he the father?"

"Yeah." Sam couldn't make eye contact as she continued, "One…eh one time with no protection." She said quietly. Chloe couldn't decide what emotion she heard in her friend's voice, guilt or fear, but it was enough to worry her.

"Does he know?" Chloe continued.

Sam winced and turned away, "No we had a fight and split up before I found out. I don't want him anywhere near either of us" Subconsciously her hand went to her cheek.

"Sam did he hit you?"

Sam could only nod before she was enveloped in her friend's arms again and the tears were flowing again.

"He won't get anywhere near you, I promise." Chloe whispered.

Once Sam had calmed down a little Chloe sat back and looked her friend over again trying to see if there were any other tell tale signs of the abuse she may have suffered but either it was a while ago or the marks were below her clothes, a thought which gave Chloe a very bad feeling. She decided to get more information and asked her original question again. "How far a long are you?"

"13 weeks" Sam stated.

"And what are you going to do?" Chloe asked, offering Sam the opportunity to answer the way she wanted. She had known Sam a long time, knew that she wanted to fly since forever and that it was her dream to go into space as quickly as possible. Chloe was very aware that Sam would find it difficult to accomplish all of that as a single mother, which she surely would be with Jonas, thankfully, out of the picture.

"I can't have an abortion." Sam answered quietly and immediately calmed Chloe's main fear. She loved Sam as a sister but would find it difficult to continue their relationship if she had chosen an abortion especially after her recent news from the doctor.

Sam continued talking, unaware of her friend's thoughts. "I just don't know what to do Chloe so I am here to talk to my two best friends and get their advice." Sam lay back in the sofa and her eyes closed against her wishes.

Chloe looked at her and saw how bad she looked and began to get up. "Why don't we wait until Mark gets home and we can talk, do you want to lie down for a bit?"

"Yeah, I think I should."

"No problem, go up to your room, its all made up for you, you know that."

Sam got up and smiled. "Thanks Chloe, I knew I made the right decision coming here."

When Sam woke up later in the spare room she could hear muffled voices coming from the kitchen directly below the room. She assumed she was the main topic of conversation and couldn't decide whether to be relieved or annoyed if Chloe had told Mark her news. She moved to get up when she realised that she wasn't alone in the bed, curled in a ball behind her legs was her nephew Dylan. He looked so peaceful, although Sam knew that wasn't always the case. He was sucking his thumb and was holding on to his 'snuggly', a teddy given to him by Sam at his birth. Despite not seeing a lot of each other face to face Sam and Dylan had a fantastic relationship and Sam had expected more nephews and nieces to arrive soon after but none so far…just a child for her and that was really a terrifying thought.

Sam gingerly sat up and didn't feel nauseous, she stood and reached for the little boy whose room was down next to the kitchen, not up here. She gently picked him up and made her way down the stairs, through the closed stairgate which Sam had to manoeuvre without dropping Dylan. She was met by Mark who had come from the kitchen on hearing her footsteps.

"Hi Sam, where did you find the monster this time?" He joked taking Dylan from her.

"He was sleeping behind me on my bed, did you guys not put him there?"

"No," Chloe replied coming behind Mark. "I don't know how he does it because I haven't caught him yet. I can't believe he can work the gate."

Sam shrugged, she actually assumed it was climbing that Dylan was good at not locks. There was an uneasy silence until Chloe took Dylan, "I'll leave you to it." She pushed her husband towards the main living room and watched as Sam followed before she left for the kitchen to feed Dylan.

"Chloe told me Sam." Mark got straight to the point as he stood in the middle of the room and pointed to the sofa for Sam to sit down.

"I thought she might." Sam answered and Mark could see the shame Sam felt towards the pregnancy.

He came and sat beside her, "Hey none of that Sam, you have nothing to be ashamed off, we are behind you 100%." He pulled her into a tight hug.

As they separated he turned more serious. "I do have one question, this one not protected time, was it consensual or did he rape you?"

Sam stared at him, she thought she had got passed that question but he knew and she didn't know how. Her eyes filled with tears and it was all Mark could do to pull her back into his arms and hold her.

"Oh Sam, have you told anyone, reported it?"

"No….it's hard in the military Mark."

"You can't let him away with this Sam, we need to contact someone."

"Please not just now Mark, I just couldn't handle the questions. He's out of my life, the baby is more than 12 weeks and I have some decisions to make."

Chloe walked in to hear the last of the conversation having put Dylan in the other room to play. "Were you worried about a miscarriage?"

Sam looked at her, "A little, I know you…"

"Yes I've had a couple." Mark reached out and squeezed her hand as she sat on the soft stool in front of the sofa, Chloe smiled at him, grateful she had such a supportive husband. "I'm glad you didn't have to experience that."

"How did the General take the news?" Mark asked referring to their father, he and Sam had very different relationships with him, although he knew Sam hadn't seen the man for awhile either.

"He doesn't know, I didn't want to tell him until I had made a decision about my future."

Mark turned more to face Sam, "Ok so what are your options."

"I already told Chloe that I couldn't get an abortion. I think I could have coped if the baby was taken away naturally." She looked at Chloe and grabbed her friend's hand because she knew how difficult it had been for her. "That came out wrong, I just mean that if it was nothing to do with me then I could rationalise the situation but I know I couldn't cope if I did it."

"So you're having the baby." Mark confirmed.

"Yeah, but what do I do then?" Sam asked.

 **AN:** Hopefully this answers some questions and maybe poses some others. Thanks for reading.


	5. Surgery and Transfer

Discovering Secrets Chapter 5

 _Sorry for the delay in this chapter, hectic week is the only excuse I have. Well we are back to the hospital in Nevada and Jack has to deal with the fact that the love of his life has a daughter, and he wants to know more._

"Can I ask you something?" Jack said looking across at Annie and Mark.

"Sure" she answered shrugging her shoulders.

Jack thought for a minute, he didn't want to bombard the girl with lots of questions so he started small.

"How old are you?"

"9, how old are you?"

"A lot older than that. You're very mature for your age." Jack commented.

"Yup, I've jumped a class too." She answered proudly.

"So you're smart, just like you're Mom." Jack looked wistfully at her.

"Yup, I dismantled my first toaster when I was 4. I couldn't put it back together till I was 6 though. Daddy Mark and Mommy Chloe were not happy with me then." She looked up at Mark and he smiled at her remembering the day clearly.

Jack smiled imagining the moment, "I assume they bought you a new one?"

"Yes the cheapest possible, just in case she took it apart again." Mark answered.

Jack looked at the two people and still couldn't get round the idea that Sam's child lived with her brother, he had to ask.

"So you live in San Diego then?"

"Yeah, have you ever been there before?" Chloe asked.

"Only a long time ago." Jack was not going to be sent off track in the conversation. "Have you ever lived with your mom?"

Annie looked a little confused at the question. "Why would I? I live with Daddy Mark and Mommy Chloe."

"Oh Ok." Jack replied, totally stunned by the answer and realised it in no way answered any of the questions he had.

Seeing the look on the General's face, Mark took some pity and explained a little, "Annie has always lived with us."

Jack, realising that it was probably an adult conversation he needed broached the subject. "Can you tell me about her…or.." Even before Mark answered Jack knew what his reply would be by the look on his face.

"I think we better wait don't you, she is not my story to tell."

"Yeah I guess." Jack understood the answer but he didn't have to like it.

The trio sat in silence again; Jack because he knew all he would do would be pester the others with questions, Mark because he was worried he might be forced to answer questions and Annie because she was beginning to get a little worried about her Mom.

Several minutes later the door from the surgical area opened and a masked doctor approached them.

Jack and Mark stood and moved towards the doctor, Mark indicating to Chloe that she should remain on the seat.

"General O'Neill I was informed you were here." Doctor Warner from the SGC stated as he took off his mask.

"Hi Doc, this is Colonel Carter's brother, can we talk over there?" He indicated moving the doctor further back up the corridor away from Annie in case this was not good news.

Jack turned to face Doctor Warner and asked the million dollar question. "So what's the verdict Doc?" he said putting his hands in his pockets and swaying a little as he usually did.

"Colonel Carter is very lucky, she has broken both her left leg and her left arm quite badly and has fractured two ribs, although they have not punctured her lung which we are pleased with. She has no major internal injuries and, although she was unconscious her helmet protected her head. She is badly bruised and will be in a lot of pain. We have set both her leg and her arm in surgery but she will be going to recovery now and I recommend a quick transfer to Colorado."

"But I can't go there." A small voice spoke from right behind them, clearly Annie did not follow all her uncle's requests.

"What do you mean?" Jack turned towards her and asked

Annie stood in the middle of the corridor, her eyes filling with tears. "Mom always said she had to come and see me because I couldn't go to her work in Colorado, I'm not allowed there."

Jack looked at the innocent child who had believed exactly what her family had told her and now thought her mother would be taken away from her. She was perhaps smart, in some ways beyond her years but in others she was simply a young child. His heart broke at the situation, clearly Sam had reasons for not introducing them all to her daughter but now he had to think of her heath and where the best place for her was.

Jack turned back to the Doctor and Mark, of all of them he had unique insight into Sam's medical needs. In an ideal world he wanted her safely in the SGC where they were fully equipped to deal with any complications in her recovery. But that brought other problems, clearance for visits being the most obvious; he had to be sure this move was necessary.

"Do you believe that she _needs_ to be in the mountain?" Jack asked directly but without mentioning any base names.

Warner thought seriously, "Sir, it is my recommendation that with everything in Colonel Carter's medical history she would be better in the military facility that has treated her for the last few years. I am hopeful there will be no complications but I would feel happier if she was in Colorado."

Jack looked from the doctor, who had voiced exactly his opinion, to Sam's family. There was only one thing to do. With authority in his voice he turned to Warner, "Do what you need to do Doc, I'll get clearance for everyone else to come with her."

"Very good General, I'll let you know when transport can be arranged." Doctor Warner began to move away and Jack caught his arm, "Doc if it helps, use my name with the Airforce to get anything."

Warner smiled at his old commander and now boss, "Don't worry Sir, I planned to."

Jack turned and saw Mark comforting Annie, assuring her that Sam was ok and they would be going with her. Mark looked over at him, Jack could tell he was clearly not sure why Sam needed to be in Colorado or how Jack would get them all there but Jack was not having a discussion about it, at least until he had spoken to his boss. He walked away from them to the desk at the other end of the corridor and spoke to the clerk.

"I need a secure room to call the Pentagon." He said

The clerk looked at him strangely and Jack suddenly remembered that he was in a civilian hospital not a military one, he sighed, that would have made this so much more straight forward. He took a breath, ready to do the spiel. "Look my name is Major General O'Neill and I work directly for the President out of the Pentagon, I need to call in to work and I need an area where there are no cameras to do that."

"Oh…yes Sir, you can use the back room there, it has a phone or are you using your cell?"

Jack waved his cell at the woman and moved towards the door she had pointed to. He nodded towards Mark and Annie, "If they ask, tell them I am checking in with work, thanks."

Jack went into the office and closed the door, he studied the numbers on his cell and decided that only one person could authorise access to the mountain so he might as well go right to the top.

"O'Neill for the President." He said when the receptionist at the Oval Office answered his call.

"Jack how is she?" The President asked as soon as he had been put through.

"She has some broken bones but overall she seems to have been lucky. Warner wants to move her to the SGC for observation in case of any complications."

"Good, that's fine Jack."

"Sir, her brother is here and he would like to make that journey with her but well clearance…"

"Can he be trusted Jack?"

"I believe so Sir, according to Carter he hasn't always been in favour of the military but I don't believe he would ever divulge anything that would put his sister's life at risk. However there is another complication."

"Oh?" The President gave a guarded but curious response.

"Eh yes Sir, something that I think at this point needs to stay above top secret."

"Jack I don't know if you have noticed but I am the President, there is no above my secrecy level."

"Yes Sir, but this is not a secure line, and I have no real knowledge if anyone can overhear this."

"Very well, do what you feel is necessary; you have permission to give Colonel Carter's family access to the SGC. But only to the infirmary you understand, anything else needs to be discussed when you get that secure red phone in Hank's office."

"Yes Sir, I don't suppose you could help with transport Sir?"

The President sighed good naturedly, "Jack you are a high ranking officer in the Airforce, which I hear has plenty of planes. Do what you do best, ruffle some feathers and terrify a sergeant or two and I am sure your transport will be there in no time."

"Thank you Sir, I appreciate your advice. I'll make some calls if Warner hasn't used both our names already."

"Keep me in touch Jack, I'll expect a call from you later."

"Yes Sir." Jack hung up the phone and exited the room to go back to the waiting room. He looked over at Mark and Annie and could see the love that clearly existed between the two, Carter must have had her reasons for leaving her daughter and he knew it would be a dousy of a story. He walked towards the two and smiled when they both looked up with concerned faces.

"Well that's all organised, you are both cleared to come to Colorado with Carter and me."

Annie beamed, looked from her uncle to Jack and broke from his embrace and ran to Jack to hug him tight. Jack had no real idea what to do but instinctively paced his hands on her shoulders and hugged her back. Mark looked relieved at the news and simply shrugged at the scene in front of him. "Thank you." He said sincerely.

"No problem." Jack eventually found his voice passed the lump in his throat brought on by the quiet sobs he could hear from Annie.

AN: Will try to update a bit quicker next time. Thanks for reading and for the reviews that I have received. Please let me know what you think.


	6. Labour and Explanations

Discovering Secrets – 6 Labour plans

 _Here is the next instalment of the story, back to the story of how Annie came to be living with Mark and Chloe. Hope you enjoy and thanks for the reviews and follows._

Sam went into labour early and angry, she had spent the majority of her pregnancy working on a top secret project run out of the Pentagon but with technology based in Colorado. Her expertise had been snapped up when they had heard that she was on desk duty. She had been unsure about the project to begin with, sure it said theoretical on her degree but even she had trouble with the ideas of outer space that were flying around under that mountain. However her respect for Catherine Langford could lead her to no other conclusion than the woman told the truth and having seen the Stargate in pictures she was desperate to see it working.

However, now in a powerful labour, she was monumentally pissed off because her colleague had just informed her that they had got it to work. Another team, one that had she not been pregnant she would have been on, was going through the device and that really annoyed her. It was typical that it had happened on the same day; she understood that she couldn't have gone through but she could have watched it happening. Not only was that annoying but because the labour date was early both Mark and Chloe weren't there. They had planned it all so carefully, Chloe and Dylan were supposed to arrive in precisely 48 hours, with Mark following the next week, still in time for her delivery date, which a plethora of doctors had assured her would not be likely to come any earlier, in fact she should prepare to be late. Pah, what do they know!

'So much for bloody doctors!' she thought as she grimaced through the pain. She had called Chloe before coming to the hospital and Chloe had managed to board a flight early but she couldn't get Dylan on the same one. So he was coming with Mark using the original reservations in a couple of days.

According to the last member of the medical profession to grace Sam with their presence her labour was "progressing normally for a first baby." In other words, slowly and painfully and if it kept going at this rate Chloe, Mark and Dylan would arrive before the baby.

She had been in the hospital for three hours already and, although not an expert, she realised that it wouldn't be done for quite a while so she was very grateful for the TV in the corner which fortunately had the Discovery Channel. It was a great distraction, in her single room, to be able to shout at the poor science in some of the shows or at brighter points be able to actually learn a little nugget of information about the world outside her area of expertise. Although she did eventually realise that if the programs she knew something about were often wrong, she could be learning something that was also wrong.

As another contraction came and went Sam realised that she was very close to the point where she would be glad that this pregnancy would be over and then she would have to get to the point where she hoped she had made the right decision about the future of her baby. She grimaced as the pain from the contraction faded, no she admonished herself, she had definitely made the right decision. They had all spoken about it at length, analysed the ramifications, including the emotional ones which Sam had found hard not to just rationalise away. But they had all decided that the best plan was for Sam's child to live with Mark and Chloe.

Sam had been surprised but not shocked when in the morning after their first long discussion when she had arrived in San Diego Chloe had come up with the answer, and it was brilliant. It was the answer to all their prayers in such a different way. Chloe had explained that she had just found out that she would be unlikely to ever conceive 'effectively', in other words even if she got pregnant it had a very high chance of a miscarriage like the two she had suffered in the last two years. Both she and Mark were disappointed as they wanted to grow their family. They had discussed the option of adoption but had been unsure how to deal with the fact that the original mother and the child may wish to find each other in the future. The night before, not knowing their concerns, Sam had voiced the exact worry, would she be able to give up her child and never see it ever again or have any say in its life. Apparently it had been at that point that Chloe's mind had gone into over-drive and come up with the solution, Sam's baby would live with Chloe and Mark and Sam could still be involved. Sam had been a little worried at the idea at first, she had not expected this solution but the more she thought about it the better she had felt. They had all discussed the situation and some of the challenges that they would face. They had covered multiple questions like, what would they tell the child about the situation? What name would the child know them all by? The financial situation, both now and in the future? What exactly would Sam's role be?

After the discussions they had decided to go to Mark's solicitor to ensure that what they planned was legal and that the child would be fully protected. They'd signed the paperwork that said at birth the child would be placed in the guardianship of Chloe and Mark. However, Sam would still retain legal rights and a say in the care and future of the child. The lawyer had been quite taken aback at the logical approach taken by all three of them but Sam knew from the night that Chloe had suggested it that it was the right decision for all five of them. When asked to explain her position to the solicitor she told him that her job could require her to be away for weeks and she could never leave her baby alone for that amount of time and that the father would not be involved in care. She told him that she loved her baby and wanted it to have a stable home life but couldn't have an official adoption because she couldn't give it up to strangers. She then explained that Chloe and Mark wanted the chance to be parents to another child and, Dylan would get a sibling to grow up with and play with. Both Chloe and Sam knew that there would be issues to overcome; it wasn't going to be easy for a child to have two mothers and Sam could foresee that parent/teacher night could be confusing but she was so glad that Chloe had suggested this.

As another wave of pain swept over Sam's abdomen the door to her room burst open and her best friend entered.

"Trust you to do this in your time Sam!" Chloe laughed as she bustled in and took off her jacket and bag before going over to the bed and giving Sam a hug.

"Me!" Sam asked incredulously, "blame the baby" she pointed vehemently at the bump in front of her. "I was quite happy waiting until next week."

"Well I spoke to the doctor outside and he says you have a bit to go, Sorry." She grimaced in sympathy with her friend who was looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"Tell me about it, every time he comes in he makes calming noises and then says 'You've a long way to go'. You've done this before, is there not something they could put up there to make things go faster?"

Chloe laughed, "Sorry sweetie, it takes as long as it takes. Nice to see that you still have your sense of humour though. Now I'm going for a coke, since we have a while to go and you are not going to be rushed to delivery any time soon. What do you want?"

"Is a burger allowed, I could murder one….oh and fries, greasy fries, maybe with ice cream on top." Sam looked dreamily out the window.

"So the cravings are still going? I have never met anyone who is still craving while in labour."

"Oh yeah, but maybe if you just brought the burger separate to the ice cream I might still want it when the baby is out."

"I'll see what I can smuggle in for you, but I don't promise anything." She kissed Sam on the cheek and went in search of some food and drink to pass the day away waiting for their child to come into the world.

AN: So now you know how Annie came to San Diego. Sorry about the delay, more will come shortly.


	7. Plaster and Stars

Discovering Secrets Chapter 7

Colonel Sam Carter was slowly coming out of her unconscious state. The doctor had upped her meds to ensure a smooth transfer to the SGC and Sam was now awakening to the familiar noises of the infirmary at her second home. Only not everything was familiar; she could feel two hands holding hers. She slowly moved her head to the left and saw Jack, her heart beating a little faster just at the sight of him. She tried to smile but it came out as a grimace.

"Try not to move, eh, Carter, you have an impressive amount of plaster," Jack said as he smiled back at her.

Sam licked her lips a little and Jack fed her some ice chips. As she was becoming more aware of the room around her, she realised that her other hand was held by one very much smaller than hers. She slowly moved her head and saw the blonde hair lying on the bed beside her.

"Annie?" Sam whispered, then turned to Jack, trying not to wake the little girl who looked so peaceful. She had no idea what to say to the man beside her and, although she was fearful, she settled with making eye contact with him and hoped that he could see how sorry she was for not

telling him about her daughter before this. They communicated so well and she immediately felt the comfort of his gaze going through her.

Jack cleared his throat before whispering, "So, Carter, it seems we have a lot to talk about."

Sam's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, even after…"

"Shh, don't worry, we'll have lots of time to chat with all that plaster you got goin' there."

Sam smiled, grateful to see he still had total faith in her and would wait to hear her story. She was delighted that Annie was here. Her face suddenly frowned as she took in that thought. She was in the SGC, but Annie was here, how could that be?

"How did she get here?" Sam asked, but the reply came from the bottom of her bed.

"I brought her," a voice she recognised replied and she tried to look up but struggled.

"Mark! You're here, too?" Confusion was written across Sam's face. "Shouldn't I be in Nevada?"

Jack squeezed Sam's hand to get her attention and try to stop her saying anything too classified to her brother. "The doc wanted you back here in case there were complications with your recovery. I spoke to the President and got your family access to the infirmary. It was all in place from when Jacob was ill, he just… wasn't alive long enough… you know..." Jack finished quite clumsily, very glad that Annie hadn't yet awoken.

Sam smiled a watery smile, knowing that Jack would have put plans in place at that point but she'd never asked and he'd never mentioned it. She was constantly grateful that he was there to look after her. Just as she was about to voice her thanks the small body beside her moved slightly and Annie woke up.

"Mommy?" Annie asked sleepily.

"Hey, baby, I'm here." Sam smiled then winced as Annie rolled over onto her broken arm.

Mark saw the wave of pain on his sister's face. "Hey, munchkin, why don't you jump down so your mom can get into a comfy position." He moved to the side of the bed and helped Annie move without hurting Sam.

Sam smiled gratefully at her brother as the pain in her arm eased. She began the process she did every time she found herself in the infirmary, cataloguing her injuries by trying to move various parts of her body. She'd already discovered the issue with her arm and now she moved her legs and almost yelped in pain.

"Carter, what're you doing?" Jack asked, watching as she flexed various limbs.

"Sorry, Sir, just checking what still works." Sam smiled thinly through the pain at him.

"Well, don't!" Jack ordered. "It clearly hurts. Don't worry, we can tell you what's wrong."

"The doctor said you were lucky, Mom. You have a broken leg, a broken arm, two broken ribs, no punctured lung, and no internal injuries," Annie piped up, filling in the information required.

Both Jack and Sam simply stared at the little girl, Jack because he was sure she hadn't been part of the conversation and Sam because she was trying to match her pain with the catalogue of injuries. For Jack's benefit Mark tried to clarify things. "Uh, did I forget to mention that she has great hearing, and a very, very good memory?"

"Yeah, you might have forgotten that," Jack mumbled, desperately trying to remember whether he'd said anything that would be labelled as National Security in the girl's presence.

Annie was unfazed. After finding out her mom was ok she had really quite enjoyed her day and wanted to share it with her mom, face to face not on Skype as she usually did. "We came in an Airforce plane, Mom! You were out of it but I had a great time."

"Really?!" Sam exclaimed, smiling at her daughter's huge grin and obvious excitement.

"Yup. General Jack took me into the cockpit and I got to fly the plane for a bit. He said that his stars let him do anything!" Annie added, clearly impressed with Jack.

"He did, did he?" Sam turned to look at Jack, her smile turning to a glare that make Mark gulp, never mind Jack. "I thought we talked about just how much your stars can do?"

"Well… you see… you have to understand…" Jack stammered.

Sam was beginning to realise that a lot had happened while she'd been in surgery and asleep. "What exactly did you do?" she asked her superior, the informal way Sam had addressed the General not going unnoticed.

"Don't you call him 'Sir'?" Annie asked, having heard so many people that day address the General as 'Sir' and most of them had been saluting at the same time.

"Yes."

"No."

Came the responses simultaneously. The 'yes' was surprisingly from Sam but Jack was quick to interfere. It was about time their relationship was out in the open with her brother so, while keeping eye contact with Sam, he replied to Annie. "Your mom is a good officer and while we're on duty she will keep calling me 'Sir'. But away from work when we're with our friends she calls me 'Jack' because we're going out together now.

Annie looked up at the man who was clearly important to her mother if the look on her face was anything to go by. She had really enjoyed her day with him but was a little wary about whether this relationship would change the one she had with her mom. She looked at both of their faces and saw what she usually saw on her Daddy Mark and Mommy Chloe's faces when they looked at each other and in that moment she realised that if it did change it, it would only make it better.

Meanwhile, Sam was nodding at Jack's comment, lost in his eyes, then broke the contact to look at Mark and her daughter. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you all. I was going to…"

"Next weekend. Annie told us," Mark finished for her, taking her hand and squeezing it while coming to stand behind Annie. "Although I won't be responsible for the wrath of Chloe when she finds out you've kept this from her."

Sam grimaced, knowing how loudly Chloe could yell.

"Well, it won't be long until she finds out," Jack said with a smirk. I sent Danny and Murray to pick her and Dylan up from San Diego. They should be landing soon."

Sam looked at Jack. Clearly he'd taken his stars for quite a journey today so she got back to the topic that she'd been diverted from earlier. "Like I was saying, what exactly have you done today with your stars?"

"You really want to know?" Jack so hoped for a negative answer as he realised he could be in serious trouble with his 'girlfriend'.

"Yes," was Sam's short and sweet answer.

"Uh… well..." Jack stood sheepishly with his hands in his pockets as he ran through all the ways in which he had completely violated the agreement they had about what he could and couldn't do in relation to her and his stars. "I requisitioned transport from D.C., got the Doc from here to do your surgery in a civilian hospital, used the President's name to get us all here, got your family clearance to the infirmary, 'borrowed' another plane from here to San Diego, and, oh yeah, I spoke to the President and you can give the National Security speech when you're able to move around."

"Wow, you have had a busy day, haven't you?" was all Sam could say. Jack had clearly been very worried about her.

"Well, yeah, but it wasn't all my idea." Jack tried to defend himself.

"Oh, really?"

"No, first Landry got me the transport, then it was good ol' Henry who ordered me to do everything else."

"Ordered, you say? Really?"

"Well, I sorta asked if I could get some transport and he told me to ruffle some feathers, which I did." Jack stood proudly puffing his chest out deciding he might as well confess all, he then looked over and winked at Annie who was smiling watching their discussion.

"Uh, huh," Sam mumbled then yawned, her eyelids drooping. "We'll discuss this later." She started to settle back on the bed turning her head to see Annie, smiling at her and taking her hand as she closed her eyes, when they suddenly snapped back open as Mark began to laugh. His little sister, the lowly Lieutenant Colonel, was very much the boss in her relationship with a certain Major General.

"What?" Sam asked, frowning.

Mark leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Nothing. I'm just so pleased you're okay and that you've found someone who's totally your match."

Sam smiled. "Me, too." She yawned again.

"Go to sleep, Mom. General Jack said he'd take us for cake while you're sleeping. We'll all be back later." Annie leaned over and kissed her cheek then moved away from the bed to where her uncle was waiting for her.

Jack was last to lean over. "Sleep, Carter, that's an order! And when you wake up I'll apologise for abusing my stars and you can tell me the story behind your beautiful little girl, okay?"

Sam nodded, the medication she was on already taking her to a dream world where she was remembering the time when she'd had to tell another important person in her life about her little girl.

 **AN:** Hope you all enjoyed this chapter of Sam's family, hoping to post the next chapter soon, once it has had any mistakes sorted. Thanks for all the reviews and support.


	8. The right decision

Discovering Secrets Chapter 8

 _Thanks for all the reviews and favourite's. Here is the continuation of the story, back in the past again. Hope this fills in some of the blanks for you._

The birth had progressed normally and now, finally, both Sam and Chloe were able to see their new daughter. They hadn't known what gender Sam was having beforehand but both were delighted that Dylan would have a little sister.

"Well done, Sam! She's gorgeous," Chloe gushed beside her, checking the little baby for 10 fingers and 10 toes and that everything was okay.

Without taking her eyes off her daughter, Sam whispered, "I never thought it would feel this way. I only just met her and I would fight anyone and anything to protect her."

"It's a strange feeling," Chloe murmured.

"I'm so pleased you came up with our plan. Looking at her, I know I could never give her up to a stranger."

Chloe breathed for what seemed like the first time in nearly an hour. She'd seen Sam bond with her daughter and would never ever stop her from being a full-time mom if she wanted it, but Chloe had wanted the baby, too, and she'd feared heartache. With this statement Sam had shown that she was still on board with what they'd decided together. "I'm glad, I would have found it difficult to watch you do that, too."

"We're going to be okay, aren't we? All of us?" Sam asked, finally looking up at Chloe, a vulnerability in her voice that Chloe hadn't heard since they'd been teenagers and Sam's mom had died suddenly.

"Oh, honey, we're going to be more than okay! We're going to be fantastic. All of us!" Chloe stated emphatically, with tears in her eyes. "You and I are gonna be brilliant moms and Mark's gonna spoil her rotten."

"Not too much!" Sam quickly butted in.

"No, only about as much as he already spoils Dylan."

Sam nodded and wiped her eyes, which were overflowing with tears. "They never tell you about all this emotion in the books."

"And for someone like you, who's so rational, this must be very weird," Chloe agreed, quickly hugging her best friend before changing the subject. "Now, what're we going to call this little munchkin?"

Sam smiled a watery smile. There was only one answer now that she knew it was a girl. "Annie."

"Your friend would be very proud." Chloe knew the story of Sam's friend from her unit who'd been killed a couple of months earlier after Sam had been moved to D.C. She knew Sam wondered whether her friend would still be alive if Sam had been with her, and that the guilt which Sam carried would always be with her, and felt that this was a fitting tribute.

"What about your Dad?" Chloe broached the obvious question that had been the elephant in the room since Jacob had flipped on hearing that Sam had been transferred to a secret project in D.C., away from a route to NASA. He hadn't even waited to hear the reason and neither sibling had spoken to him since. Well, not before Mark had flipped right back at his father and had accused him of loving the Air Force more than he loved his own children and, when Jacob had taken longer than Mark had expected to correct this assumption, Mark had really laid into his father and had told him that he was no longer welcome in his life and that he hoped Sam would give him the same message. Sam hadn't been given the chance to speak to him. Every time she'd tried she'd been told that he was busy, so she'd given up.

Sam sighed. She didn't know what to do about her dad. In fact, she'd resigned herself to the fact that her child wouldn't get to know any of its grandparents. "I don't know," she finally whispered in response to her friend's question. "Can we wait a bit, see that this is working out for us first? I don't want him to spoil anything."

"We can wait forever if you want. After your maternity leave, no one even needs to know about her, if that's what you want. It's totally up to you."

And it had been up to her. She'd gone to San Diego for three months to spend time with the whole family, and been amazed at how right it all felt. Annie was in the right place and, even though it had been a little odd at first over who was 'mom' at any particular time, Sam and Chloe had both loved looking after the little girl. Seeing how adored Annie was by the entire family and how they all looked after and protected her, at the end of her maternity leave, Sam was content to leave Annie with her brother and sister-in-law.

So, when her CO had called and asked about her return to the project in DC, Sam had hugged her family, cried a little, but left knowing that Chloe was a fantastic mom and, as predicted, Mark was going to spoil his little girl. Dylan had taken to the role of a big brother like a duck to water and loved showing off his little sister to the world. No one knew it was less than a standard adoption. The plan was theirs and theirs alone. The world didn't have to know.

Sam had ensured that everything was organised before she left especially how she was going to remain in contact. It was very convenient that Mark lived in a city with an armed forces base as Sam would be able to use all her Airforce connections to get hops back to San Diego as often as she could.

It had been difficult not being there all the time, harder than she had at first thought it would be but they made it work and, even after she'd moved to the SGC and was often off world, Sam ensured that she kept in close contact with her daughter. Yes, she was a workaholic, but she visited as much as she could and the invention of Skype had been a godsend, allowing her to see and eventually talk to Annie almost every night she was on world. Of course she had to go on missions and had to find a way to explain why she couldn't always call, but that was something she was willing to do for the chance to be part of her daughter's life.

As for her father, as time had gone by, Sam had assumed that the relationship she had with him would improve but she'd never foreseen the changes that had taken place and had never found the right time to tell Jacob about the real story behind his other grandchild. When Jacob had been dying from cancer, he'd revealed that he knew Annie existed but had believed, as had everyone else, that she was Mark and Chloe's daughter. Sam had been shocked that he'd known anything and hadn't felt the need to explain her daughter at that point, especially as they hadn't spoken for a long time. Then, by the time he'd been blended with Selmak, the information about Annie had seemed almost irrelevant. Jacob would no longer be based on Earth and he didn't want to see Mark, anyway, so the chances of him meeting her little three year old had seemed unlikely.

After their run in with Seth near Seattle, however, Sam had found that the elephant in the room was about to make itself known.

"Selmak wants to meet Mark?" Sam asked a little incredulously.

"Yeah, she's been bugging me about mending fences for months."

"She does realise that this isn't a fence, that it's a chasm?" Sam asked, trying to ensure that her father and his symbiote realised the extreme division between father and son.

"Yes," Jacob snapped as the elevator rose through the mountain. "I told her it was a bad idea."

Sam sighed. "Dad, it's not a bad idea to meet Mark and Chloe again and see the kids but…"

"It's those damn kids that Selmak is so desperate to meet. Wants to know what being a grandparent is like. We saw the picture you keep in your locker, and gotta say they are pretty cute, but Sel just doesn't understand the relationship Mark and I have."

Sam took a long breath and realised for the first time since her father had come back into her life that she was probably going to have to deal with the issue of Annie.

"Dad, if you're going to do this, you need to realise how much you hurt him that last time you spoke to him."

" _I_ hurt _him_? He told me I was no longer welcome in his life!"

"Only after you failed to assure him that he meant more to you than the Air Force! What did you expect him to say?"

Jacob's eyes glowed. "He really said this, Samantha?"

"Yes, he did, and my brother's never forgiven him, although he does miss him, I know that. We lost our mom, and he and Mark fell out constantly after that. And then he was angry when I was transferred and we all said things that we shouldn't have."

Jacob took back control of his body. "I wanted you to have your dream of space and I couldn't believe you let them transfer you."

Before Sam could respond they arrived at the surface and signed out without continuing the conversation. Jacob followed Sam to her car. He knew this wouldn't be a pleasant experience, at least to begin with, but he hoped he could mend some bridges. But he was going to need the help of his constant companion, and his daughter.

As they drove off the base and down the mountain Jacob decided to start the conversation. "I'm sorry I gave you the impression that you were less important than my job, but surely by now you understand a little why the job got in the way."

Sam briefly closed her eyes because, to an extent, she could understand. Hadn't she been the one to put her career so far above her child that she'd left her with someone else? She internally scolded herself. She had these doubts periodically about the plans they'd made over 4 years earlier but no, she knew they'd made the right decision.

Annie had a fantastic life with a loving family and a mom who loved her very much. She was a beautiful, precocious, funny and intelligent little girl, and Sam was able to share that life with her, even if she did live in another city. Annie was a very well adjusted and happy little girl and knew that, even though she didn't live with her mom because of how important her mom's job was, she was very much loved, which was something Sam wasn't so sure about her own father. Sam was absolutely clear that if it really came to a choice between being in the Airforce, on SG-1, or the happiness and well being of her daughter, then she'd choose Annie every time. She was very lucky that she hadn't needed to make that decision yet because of the decision that she and her best friend had made. She just wasn't sure that her dad would make the same choice, putting her and Mark's happiness and well being before his job, and that really hurt. So she tried to ask him.

"Dad, it's not that I don't see that your job was important, I know that. Heck, even Mark knows that. But surely, if it was a choice, we'd come first, wouldn't we? You... you do love us, don't you?" Sam could see the emotions running across Jacob's face in a way she never had before as he processed what Sam had asked, and even the fact that she'd had to ask at all.

The fact that Sam didn't automatically know the answers shocked Jacob. Even after this past year, when they'd worked so closely together, she still thought she was worth less to him than his career. Then he reviewed the time he'd spent with her recently and realised, like in his previous career, he'd often put the mission before her. The thought brought tears to his eyes, especially when he realised that Sam had no idea how much she meant to him, how much she was loved.

"I'm sorry, Sam, I hadn't realised what I'd been doing. I promise you that from now on you, your brother and his family will always know the place you have in my heart."

Sam really wished that she hadn't been driving at that moment as all she wanted to do was hug her father.

As they drove towards Sam's house to collect some luggage for the trip to San Diego, Sam made the decision that she'd tell her father exactly who Annie was.

 **AN: Thanks for reading, another chapter will be up soon. Would be great to hear what you think.**


	9. Discussions

Discovering Secrets Chapter 9

Sam woke up again in the infirmary a little more cognisant than she had been the first time. She looked around to see who was with her this time and was quite surprised that no one else was beside her.

'Huh' she thought, 'so much for, we'll be here when you wake up'. It wasn't that she didn't assume they were doing something important but really, there was her old team, her new boyfriend, her two best friends, their son and her daughter all supposed to be here to see her and no-one was.

She sighed, alerting the nurse at the other end of the infirmary that she was awake again. She came over to see how Sam was doing.

"Hello Colonel, long time no see." The nurse who Sam recognised said with humour in her voice.

"Well, I did miss you all." Sam quipped back.

"How's the pain, 1 to 10?" The nurse quickly got down to business.

"At the moment, about a 3, but I assume if I move at all that might change."

"Ok, well I have my orders to tell the doctor you are awake and to contact General O'Neill who wanted to know the very second you opened your eyes."

Sam blushed as the nurse left, it amazed her that for two months their relationship had been a closely guarded secret and now, one accident later, everyone knew. A sudden thought occurred to her, what happened to her bike, she couldn't really remember the accident, only some noise and pain, so what had happened?

Several minutes later she could hear her visitors before she saw them. Clearly most of her extended family were to join her, she could make out Jack's dress shoes, Teal'c and Daniel's airforce issue boots, then several quieter steps, two definitely belonging to children. She smiled, for the first time in over 9 years the most important people in her life would be in the one room and the only one missing was her father. That thought coming to her as a surprise forced her eyes to fill up and just as one tear rolled down her cheek Jack appeared at her side.

"Carter….what's wrong?" He was concerned, it was very unlike her to let her emotions show even when in hospital.

"Just realised Dad isn't here." She whispered taking hold of his hand with her good hand.

"I miss Grampa too." Annie spoke up. Chloe quickly gave her a hug and Sam realised she had managed to depress everyone in the room with one statement.

"Sorry, I just had a thought that everyone who was important to me was here and then it struck me that he wasn't."

"Jake would just be happy that you are ok, you are aren't you?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, just the usual pain."

Mark gaffawed at that, "Only my little sister could describe 4 broken bones as usual."

"You have no idea, Mark." Daniel joined the conversation moving towards Sam, pushing Jack out of the way to hug her. "You know, if you missed us you could have just called, you didn't need to go to this effort to see us."

"Thanks Daniel, its good to see you too."

"We are all happy you are recovering Colonel Carter." Teal'c bowed his head a little at the end of his statement.

Chloe moved over and took her turn, "You do like to worry us, don't you! I'm glad you are ok, we thought the worst when the hospital called."

"Sorry I didn't mean to worry you. Oh by the way", she addressed the room at large, "does anyone know what actually happened, oh and did my bike survive?"

"Eh.. well…" Mark began, "there's no easy way to say…."

"It's totalled Carter, destroyed, nothing left, gone to the happy garage in the sky." Jack finished for him wincing as he described her beloved bike.

"Nothing….no hope…" Sam was devastated.

"Sorry Sam." Mark jumped back into the conversation. "The State Troopers came in to the hospital when we were waiting to get word of moving you. The truck driver was drunk, took you out at an intersection, the trooper expected to be hearing you had died."

"He was really surprised Mom, but I told him it would take more than that to take you down." Annie spoke confidently, especially now she knew her mom was fine.

"Aunt Sam, I just have to say this place is cool, I knew you were a fab Aunt but if you had mentioned any of this you would have gone up so much in my estimation." 13 year old Dylan commented as he walked around the infirmary.

All four of SG-1 looked at each other and Jack repeated Daniel's line from earlier. "Dylan my boy you have no idea."

Jack looked at Sam and the other adults were made a little uncomfortable by the 'conversation' between them. Annie, oblivious to any emotions flying between her mother and General Jack jumped up on the bed beside her mom. "Are you in lots of pain mom?" she asked leaning over her and pushing her hair behind her ear like her mom had done for her when she had been ill.

"It's ok sweetie, the doctor has given me lots of medicine to help."

"Good, I was worried mom." She leaned down and whispered so only Sam could hear.

"I know baby but I'm going to be just fine, I promise." She lifted her good arm and stroked her daughter's hair, then looked over at Jack.

"What time is it? Where are they all staying?"

"It's after 10 so I figured they can stay here. I'm sure they will all want to see you in the morning, especially this one." Jack answered. Sam nodded then nudged her daughter briefly and Jack nodded back.

"Daniel can you see the Carter's settled in one of the VIP rooms, Sam and I have some things to discuss." Jack looked at his best friend, who understood immediately, Annie was a surprise to all of them but Daniel knew that Jack and Sam had few secrets and they would need to talk about this one.

"Sure, its not the Ritz but the VIP quarters are pretty good here." Daniel answered.

Daniel began to encourage the three standing Carter's to the door but realised he would need help with the little girl who was still lying beside her mom.

Sam hugged Annie close and spoke quietly to her, "Go with your mom and dad sweetie, I'll be right here when you wake up."

"You promise?" she whispered.

"I promise baby." Sam said wiping the small tear that had formed in the side of Annie's eye. She smiled at her and was pleased when she smiled back.

"Ok" she said as she got off the bed and went to take Chloe's hand. Annie turned back to the bed and could see the General holding her mom's hand. She was ok leaving her mom in his care but he had to know how she felt. "You take care of her General Jack or I'll get you." She said quite sternly.

Jack broke eye contact with Sam and faced Annie, with sincerity he replied. "Yes Ma'am, you have my word." Jack gave her a sloppy salute and then smiled at her which Annie returned before waving to her mom and leaving with Chloe.

Having promised to take care of Sam, Jack pulled up a chair to get close to her, he wasn't sure if this was the right time but he had waited to hear Annie's story and he really didn't want to wait any longer.

"So….Carter…..you feel up to letting me in on your big secret?" He smiled at her, trying to convey that it was curiosity not animosity driving his question.

She smiled back at him, "She was Jonas', he didn't know anything, he had got violent before I split with him and he…. he raped me."

Jack gasped, he had not even considered that option. "I'm so sorry Sam, why didn't you tell us about her?"

"Chloe, Mark and I decided she'd live with them, I couldn't have an abortion or a formal adoption, she was mine and I have loved her from the beginning. We planned it all out before she was born and for the most part it has worked. Annie has always known who I am, understands that I loved her enough to give her a great family and that she is the most important thing in the world to me."

"That must have been a tough decision to make, but you could have still told us."

"Not at the beginning I couldn't, Jonas was still around, I couldn't risk him knowing anything about her. When he followed me to the SGC, which he requested by the way, I knew the only way to keep her safe was for her to be my niece not my daughter."

"I get it Carter, but that was years ago, you could have told us after that."

"No one knew, not General Hammond, not Dad, in fact the only one who knew there'd been a baby was Catherine Langford and she never asked me what had happened. I think she just assumed the baby had been adopted and I wouldn't want to talk about it. After a while it was natural to talk about her as Mark's child, so I did."

"She's a great kid, Carter, she is clearly a smart cookie, just like you and she is so grounded about who she is and who you are its incredible. You made a good decision." Jack said sensing she needed a little reassurance from him. He leaned over and gently kissed her, telling her that he accepted the choices she had made and the little girl he had been introduced to.

They separated and Sam had tears on her cheek which Jack wiped with his fingers. "She is great, isn't she?" Sam stated. She began to worry her lower lip a little wanting to say something but unsure how Jack would react.

"I can hear the wheels turning Carter, out with it." Jack smiled at her trying to encourage her to speak.

Sam smiled at him, and took a deep breath, although that was a little painful to do. "Maybe, now that you know about her, she could visit some time? Up until now I've always visited her but I'd really like her to get to know you and the guys and to see where I live. Photos just aren't the same."

"I think that's a great idea." He leaned over and kissed her again, delighted at the idea of getting to know Annie and seeing Sam as a mom.

He pulled back a thought suddenly striking him. "Wait, you said that Dad didn't know about Annie, but Annie just said she missed him, how's that?"

_SG1_

 **AN** : Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, so in terms of secrets, Jack now knows about Annie and the Carter's now know where Sam works. Next chapter, Jacob and Annie. Hope to post again before Christmas, if not I hope you all have a good Christmas if you celebrate. I am very much looking forward to it.


	10. Jacob learns the secret

Discovering Secrets Chapter 10

 _AN: So this is set in the past of this story, but comes from a scene at the end of the episode Seth and the entire story was inspired by the scene where Jacob and Sam visit Mark and he comes to the door with a little girl aged about 4. In this story that little girl is Annie_.

Sam knew the time was coming to reveal all to her father, and she wasn't really looking forward to it. She'd put it off when they had been in Colorado and now they were driving up to Mark's house from the airport and Sam was very nervous.

They knocked on the door and Sam was not overly surprised to have it opened by Mark and Annie. She smiled weakly at him and said "Hi Mark." What did surprise her, however, was when Jacob pulled a totally shocked Mark towards him and hugged him before leaning down to speak to Annie.

"Hi there, what's your name?"

"I'm Annie." Annie said shyly before turning to smile up at Sam and saying what Sam hadn't as yet gotten around to explaining. "Hiya Mommy. What are you doing here? You didn't tell me you was coming" She put her arms up waiting for her Mom to pick her up, totally oblivious to the shocked silence her innocent words had produced. Once she was safely snuggled in her mother's arms, she turned to face Jacob and asked, "Who are you?"

Jacob stood stock still.

Sam decided not to reply but simply started to walk into the house, giving herself a few moments to work out what she was going to say. She paused when she heard Mark's whispered words as she passed. "You did tell him didn't you?"

"No…..I didn't get around to it.." Sam said sheepishly, looking back at her father who had still not moved.

Mark followed her gaze. "Oh! Well this should be interesting." Then addressing his father he surprised himself by inviting the other man into his house to see his family.

Chloe and Dylan were sitting at the dining room table when Sam entered the room.

"Hi Sam!" Chloe greeted her cheerfully, barely looking up from the homework that she was helping Dylan with. "Did you get some time off, we didn't know you were coming.".

"Something like that." She said joining them at the table with Annie on her knee. "I brought someone with me." She added.

"Oh?" Chloe perked up, hoping it might have been a potential love interest.

"Yeah….my dad….and Annie just said Hi Mommy."

"Oh…"

"Yeah…"

Both Sam and Chloe looked through the gap in the wall between the dining room and the main family room to see Mark and Jacob eyeing each other up.

"Ok, kids I think it's time we went out to play, let's go." Chloe stood and tried to encourage the kids away from the table, Dylan was quite happy to leave his homework so jumped down and moved towards his mom. Annie, on the other hand was more reluctant to get down from her mother's lap. Sam tried to ease Chloe's exit. "Don't worry sweetie, I'll be here when you finish, I might even come and join you once I'm finished here with Daddy Mark."

Annie looked from her mother's to her father and the strange man. "But mommy I want to know who that is."

"I know baby." Sam tried to placate her extremely curious child. "But I need you to go and play with Dylan and Mommy Chloe right now, we have some grown up things to discuss."

"Okaaaaayyy" Annie reluctantly agreed. "But you will tell me who he is won't you?"

Sam had no intention of introducing them if her Dad did not accept their situation so it was better that the little girl left now before getting attached at all, but she couldn't say that to a 4 year old so she settled for, "Later honey, now off you go."

Finally satisfied the little girl turned on Sam's lap and slid off, walked over and took Chloe's hand and left. Sam watched the three leave the room for the garden, took a fortifying breath and moved into the family room.

"Dad, I'm sure you have questions." She broke the silence that had descended on the room.

"QUESTIONS!" He bellowed in response then turned from his children desperate to keep his temper and not blow this chance to have a relationship with his family.

"Ok, let's get one thing straight." Mark started quietly. "You are in _my_ house, by _my_ invitation, and you will listen to this story _before_ you make any judgements okay?. If you cannot accept what is said then you will leave, _before_ you see the children again. Is that understood?"

Jacob got control of himself, nodded then turned to face his children, saying quite calmly, "We'd probably all be more comfortable sitting down, don't you think." His comment surprised both his children but they did as he asked and waited for him to continue with his questions.

"Annie is yours?" he addressed Sam.

"Yes." Sam replied simply.

"Can I ask when, how, who?" Jacob stumbled through his questions.

Sam took a moment before whispering, "You might not the answer."

"Try me." Her father asked.

Sam only hesitated briefly, then tried to explain as simply and as quickly as she could. "Her father is Jonas, just before we split up he attacked me and she is the result. He never knew and he died on a mission out of the mountain." She said trying to tell her father how he died without mentioning their classified work, hoping her father would understand.

"When…when did this happen." Jacob asked, trying to contain his rage that he felt at his daughters violation.

"Before I got transferred to D.C." she answered, knowing that he would understand when.

"That's why you were transferred." Jacob said quietly realising his reaction at the time would have been a devastating blow to his daughter.

"Yes, once my maternity status went through I was moved to the Pentagon, I tried to tell you but…"

"I wouldn't listen….." Jacob couldn't believe the damage he had done to his family. "I'm so sorry Sam."

Mark stood up, it was going to take more than one apology to make up for the last few years of no communication. He looked down at his father asking him the same question Sam had earlier in the day "Is your family more important than your job?" .

Without the slightest hesitation, Jacob looked directly at Mark and said, "Yes… I can't promise to always be around but I swear if it is a choice between protecting you or my job, you come first. My one regret is that neither you nor Sam ever knew that."

Mark sighed, there were tears forming in his eyes, he had never expected in his wildest dreams that his father would say that. He smiled at the older man, "Then I think your grandchildren would love to meet you." He took a breath, keen to explain the arrangements with Annie before the two met. "Annie lives here, she has since her birth, Chloe and I are her guardians and she is treated like our own. All three of us make the decisions about her care and Sam is fully involved in her life even when she can't be here. Both Annie and Dylan know that Sam is Annie's mother."

Mark looked at his father, half expecting him to make a comment in complaint at the arrangements. So he decided to lay it all on the line. "You may feel the decisions we have made are strange but this arrangement works, we are all happy and you are welcome if you promise to respect this arrangement."

Sam looked at her older brother and could see he was struggling with his emotions so went to give him a hug. "Nothing is changing." She whispered in his ear, "I'm not here to take her away." She could feel Mark sag against her and hugged him tighter. The siblings turned to their father.

"So what do you say Dad?" Sam asked. "Would you like to play with your grandchildren? I've gotta warn you, they love to beat adults at any game they choose."

Jacob looked up at his children and could not have been more proud of them, they had turned a horrible situation in to one which appeared to benefit them all. "I'd love to meet them, and if you are all happy then I am happy with whatever arrangement you have. I would just like the chance to be part of it." He walked over to them and put one arm around each of them and hugged them to him with Selmack cheering in his head.

 **AN: So from Season 3 Jacob knows about Annie, and therefore visits and hears news of her anytime he is able too, (I know that Jacob visiting Mark is not shown in the show much but is implied). One more chapter to go. Thanks for reading.**


	11. The Secret is Out!

Discovering Secrets Chapter 11: The Secret is Out!

 _Well folks this is the last chapter, I'm sorry for the delay, going back to work has been a bit of a trying time. Thanks for all the follows and the reviews they have really kept me going. I hope that this conclusion works for you all. Thanks to my beta who solved a tricky issue at the end_. _Now on with the show….._

"So, Jacob understood?" Jack asked Sam who was now sitting up in bed.

"Yeah. He was a little shocked..." Seeing Jack's raised eyebrows, Sam hesitated before continuing. "Okay, a lot shocked, but Annie reminded him so much of me that he fell in love pretty quickly."

"I can see why. She really looks like you."

Doctor Warner took the opportunity to look around the curtain to check on his patient. "How are you feeling, Colonel Carter?" he asked while studying her chart.

"Like I could go home. Maybe?" Sam asked.

"Well, I'm not sure about that." Dr Warner shook his head. "How about we try getting you into a wheelchair, first, then we'll see. But you're going to need a lot of help with even the simplest things for a while, having both an arm and a leg in plaster."

Sam looked at herself, one leg in plaster and one arm. Any trip out of bed was going to be difficult. She nodded to the doctor. She knew the drill; she wouldn't be allowed anywhere if she couldn't get to the loo. "Okay. But I want to get out of this bed as soon as possible."

"We'll see how you feel tomorrow, how the pain's going. Then we'll see about getting you up out of that bed."

Sam watched the doctor leave then turned to Jack. "Jack, did you really get permission for me to tell my family everything? The Stargate, other planets, Dad?"

"Everything, Sam. The President signed the order this afternoon. But just the adults. Sorry, he was worried that it would end up as part of a homework assignment if the kids were told," Jack quipped. "Look, get some sleep and I'll come back later. It can wait a few days. Once you're able to get up and around we can get you to the briefing room to give your spiel to Mark and Chloe."

A few days later saw Mark and Chloe, the original SG-1, and General Landry sitting waiting for Sam's video to start, explaining what happened under the mountain. Mark and Chloe had both signed the agreement and were ready to find out what Sam and Jacob had been involved in all these years, what the big secret was.

Stunned was a good word to describe the look on their faces when Daniel switched the lights on again.

"So…." Jack began, grinning at the two visitors, "A bit mind blowing, isn't it?"

"Yeah... um... you could say that," Mark managed to say, still in shock, then looked directly at his sister. "Are you _serious_? Aliens?! Other planets?! Really?!"

"Yeah… surprise!" Sam finished lamely.

"Wow!" Chloe finally spoke. "I know you said your job was important but... wow!"

"I know."

"And you've been doing this since you were pregnant?" Mark asked.

"Yeah," Sam answered her brother.

"And where did Dad fit in to all this?"

Sam cleared her throat. This she was going to have to do without a script and she looked to Jack for support. At his slight nod she began. "Dad was going to die from cancer 5 years ago and a race we met called the Tok'ra could help him, so he agreed to join them. They cured his cancer and then he started working for them."

"So he didn't have a heart attack then?" Chloe asked.

"No… you see, to cure him a Tok'ra had to live inside him..." Sam started to explain when Mark interrupted her.

" _Inside_ him? What the heck does that mean?"

"Well, you see, the Tok'ra are a race of symbiotes who are blended with humans..."

"Symbiotes? Blended?" Mark was trying to understand the totally foreign concept.

"Yeah. How can I explain it?" Sam thought for a moment. "The Tok'ra are an intelligent race of beings who need a host to survive. They can't live without a host. They're not very big and so blend with a human..." Sam could see that Mark was about to interrupt her again and so put up her hand to stop him before he could say anything. "I know it's hard to understand and I know you have questions but just let me finish, okay?" At Mark's nod Sam continued.

"Both the host and the Tok'ra have a symbiotic relationship. The host isn't harmed and can actually be helped by the Tok'ra. For example, they can be healed, just like Dad's Tok'ra, Selmak, cured his cancer. They remain as separate identities with their own thoughts and emotions and you can talk to either of them, although not at the same time. Dad and Selmak became best friends and it was actually Selmak who encouraged Dad to go and see you that time and it was she who made him more compassionate, I guess you could say."

Sam stopped and looked at her friend and brother. "Look, I know this is very odd and you have every right to ask lots of questions, but just know that Dad was happy and enjoyed his time with the Tok'ra."

"Ok," Mark whispered, with a shocked look on his face. "I don't know what to think about it all. But that's why he was different, wasn't it? He was changed."

"Yeah, partly," Sam replied quietly, then watched her brother as he mulled over everything he'd heard.

After a few minutes Mark looked back at Sam. "So what happened? Why couldn't... Selmak, was it?... save him at the end?" he finally asked.

"Selmak was old and she was dying. Dad could've survived without Selmak but he waited too long. We needed his help to defeat some really bad things and so he died with Selmak when she died."

"Did he suffer?"

"No, it was quite quick at the end. He was only disappointed that he couldn't see you guys and the kids one last time."

Sam watched as both Mark and Chloe took the information on board. "I wanted to tell you before, at the funeral, but I didn't have permission then. I'm glad you know now." Sam waited for any response. "Are you okay? Mark? Chloe?"

Chloe looked at Mark before saying quietly, "It's just a lot to take in."

Mark took Chloe's hand before adding, "I knew you kept secrets but this is… huge."

"I know, guys, and you didn't ask for this but you're my family and it's been horrible having to keep my life secret from you. Please tell me this won't change anything between us."

Chloe quickly jumped in. "Of course not. It just makes sense, now when you say something has come up, you mean something very big."

Mark smiled at his sister. "Yeah, we can see why you don't have time to learn how to cook."

Everyone around the table laughed, the tension now eased.

"Ow!" Sam exclaimed, her sore ribs not appreciating her laughter.

Landry cleared his throat, calling the room to order. "Colonel Carter, I have spoken to the base in Nevada and you're on medical leave effective immediately. Depending on where you are planning to convalesce and once you're given the okay to go home you'll need to check in with a security cleared doctor on a regular basis. Teal'c, it is good that you have time off from your duties and you are welcome to stay and Daniel, you can take some time off to help Colonel Carter. Jack, you need a higher authority than me to get time off."

"No problem. Already done." Jack sat back, smirking until Sam looked at him.

"You didn't! Please tell me you didn't take your stars for a walk again?"

"Uh… well..." Jack looked sheepishly at Sam.

"Jack O'Neill, you promised!"

"Look, there's a lot to handle here at the SGC, lots of brand new information that I need to process so I can work from here. But I'm entitled to time off, too, you know!"

"That's no excuse!"

"Hey, you're gonna need somebody to boss around here before you are on your feet again, I figured I'm the best person for the job." He tried smiling at her and received a slight smile back.

Sam turned to her brother, "How long can you guys stay?" Sam asked him.

Mark turned to look at Chloe, "You tell her." He said nudging his wife.

Sam turned to her best friend. "Well, I'm on summer vacation for the next six weeks, so are the kids and we called Mark's work and they said as long as he had a secure computer to work on he could have some vacation time and then work here for a few weeks and I think you have a secure computer or two..."

Sam beamed at them, this was what she had hoped for, time to spend with all her family, even if she had plaster on one half of her body.

"So" Sam turned towards Jack, "General O'Neill, since you have already taken your stars for a walk already, maybe you could sort that for us and as you also have a large house here in Colorado, where, say, I and other members of my family could have a small vacation together you could maybe make that happen too?" Sam batted her eyelids at Jack, very un-military like, and Jack was a goner, he nodded furiously in confirmation that he would do exactly as she asked.

"It's a good job she's on our side Jack or you would be blabbing all to the enemy, and to think you are special ops trained." Daniel said in his singsong voice.

"Can it Daniel" Jack growled.

"So, what'cha say, guys you all up for a bit of Colorado vacation?" Sam asked her family around the table.

"Excellent plan, Sam," Daniel said. "I think Jack's house is the perfect place for you to rest and there's room for all of you. Teal'c and I can stay on base and visit when you feel up to it."

"Indeed," Teal'c added.

Jack stood, ready to get behind Sam's wheelchair and push her from the table. "Actually, it's already organised." He stated casually.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked curiously.

"Well I knew you would need a lot of help while you're getting better so the beds are already made up..."

At Sam and Daniel's sceptical looks Jack said before continuing, "Don't worry, I didn't make them! I got a company in to get the house all set up ready for you all. Anyway, as I was saying, the beds are already made up and there's some special equipment there for you, Carter. I checked with Doc Warner what you'd need. A nurse from the SGC will also come every day to help you get up, help you bathe, things like that, until you can take care of things yourself, which, knowing you, won't be long." He smiled at Sam.

Everyone looked at Jack with various forms of shock on their faces.

"What?" Jack asked innocently as he looked around at everyone.

Daniel grinned. "Nothing, Jack, nothing."

Teal'c just raised an eyebrow.

Landry stood and looked at Sam. "Doctor Warner has let me know that you should be able to go home in a few days, as long as you have help which it looks like you will." He looked around at the others. "Well, I have work to do. Mark, Chloe, nice to see you again. I'm sure you have a lot to think about." He smiled at Sam and then headed back to his office.

Jack looked at Mark and Chloe. "So, guys, you and the kids can move into my house and get settled ready for when Carter can go home."

"Thanks, General," Mark said. "I was wondering what Sam was going to do because she obviously can't do much on her own at the moment."

Chloe looked at Sam. "And don't worry, Sam, we'll take care of everything until you're back on your feet."

They made their way through the SGC to return Sam to the infirmary where a nurse was occupying Dylan and Annie. They all collected their belongings ready for Jack to take them home.

"I wish I were going with you," Sam said longingly.

"Don't worry, Carter. You just take it easy and do everything Doctor Warner tells you to do and you'll be able to leave before you know it. This will give us a few days to get everything ready for you."

She wiped her sudden tears and nodded, the group all gave her a hug, Annie waiting until last so she could hold her mom for the longest time.

"I'll be there in a couple of days sweetie. I promise."

"Ok mom, it will be fun to have a vacation with you, we haven't one in a couple of years."

"Yeah, shame I will not be able to do much."

Annie smiled. "You can still hug me, that's all I need, and some DVD's to watch with you."

"And maybe some popcorn or cake?" Sam added.

Annie burst into a bright smile and stepped away from the bed. "You make sure you behave mom, and get better or you'll have me to answer to."

"Yes Ma'am"

The group left and Sam lay back in the bed drifting off to sleep.

A short time later all Sam's family arrived at Jack's. Daniel and Teal'c, having dropped off the Carter children, left to get food for the next few days, and Mark and Chloe set about organising the sleeping arrangements. Jack wandered outside to check that Dylan was okay exploring the backyard and saw Annie out on the deck. He walked over to join the girl who was looking over his garden in deep contemplation.

He waited for her to start the conversation and after a few minutes she did, "General Jack," Annie asked quietly, "Are you going to marry my mom?"

Jack looked at Annie before replying seriously, "I'd love nothing more. What do you think?"

"I think she loves you and I think you make her happy." Annie thought for a moment. "If you do, can I still come and visit?"

"Of course, Annie, you'll always be welcome. Here, in Washington or in Nevada, you'll always have a home with us."

"I'm glad I got to meet you," Annie said with a grin.

"Me, too," Jack replied, and was surprised when Annie slipped under his arm and hugged him. She looked up at him.

"I know I've been a big secret but I'm really glad that everyone knows about me now, and that I got to meet you all."

"Me too, but there is one thing I still need to know are you a chocolate cake person or a pie person?"

Annie scrunched her nose and thought for a minute, "Can I be both?"

"In this house, absolutely!" Jack boomed. "We just need to call Daniel, he doesn't like either and might not buy any."

"Well c'mon then, they might be passed the cake section already."

Annie pulled into his house and then let his hand go, he watched as she hugged her parents who had arrived in the sitting room from the downstairs bedrooms. He had never suspected that she even existed but now he couldn't wait to be part of her and Sam's family. But first there was the little matter of asking Sam to marry him...

_THE END_

 **AN** : So there is a possibility of an epilogue or more adventures but I haven't written anything yet so I am marking this as complete but in the future this may change. Thanks for reading and supporting me, it has been really great to hear from you. I have some more stories in the computer just needing some brushing up so I hope to post more SG1 soon.


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